Isn’t it nice to see Kerry Washington on the cover of a major fashion magazine? I like this. I like that several projects all “hit” within a year and now Kerry has had her breakthrough, which was long promised. I remember when she was supposed to break through back in 2004-06, with roles in Ray and Last King of Scotland, but it didn’t really happen. She worked consistently, but now everyone is talking about her because of Scandal and Django Unchained, and because she’s one of the best dressed ladies on the red carpet. Anyway, her Elle cover story seems pretty basic (you can see the slideshow here):
On the career Washington thought she’d pursue:
“I imagined I’d be a clinical psychologist, with a focus on how performance shapes identity. I’d figure out ways to use role-playing in the healing of people.”When asked if as a girl she thought she’d ever consider modeling or becoming a film actress:
“I was not that girl. I was a kooky theater kid, silly and goofy and academic.”On getting red-carpet ready:
“I found out I enjoy the process. All these people show up at my house, they all have kits, someone has dresses. And it’s like, Let’s have fun. It’s not all about me. We’re able to create stories on the red carpet.”On her current success:
“I’m the luckiest broad in Hollywood now. To be the lead actor on Scandal and to be in the highest-earning Tarantino movie- I don’t get to ask for more.”
Do you think she was really the “kooky theater kid, silly and goofy and academic”? Eh. Nearly every actor these days claims to be the kooky theater type. I don’t really get it. SOME of them were surely the popular cheerleaders or star athletes, just by the law of probabilities. As for Kerry’s bragging about being “the luckiest broad” – I would roll my eyes if it was some 22-year-old who just came out of nowhere. But Kerry didn’t come out of nowhere – she’s a 36-year-old who has been slogging through Hollywood for more than a decade. She deserves this!
Photos courtesy of Elle.
Classy, talented and gracious, we need more of this!
Ugh. Of course she thought she’d be a model/actress, she worked her ass off to become one. I don’t like false modesty, it’s unbecoming.
Also: they photoshopped her thighs to oblivion on that cover. Shame.
But she’s talking about when she was a kid, and unless she was a child star I doubt she was working towards a modeling/acting career at that point in her life.
I don’t know if her thighs were necessarily photoshopped – she’s really thin, so maybe they actually are that small.
For once zip it on the negativity! This woman has said nothing really snark worthy, let’s not start making stuff up.
Well, excuse me. I’m not denying she’s a lovely girl and a great actress- she is. I just hate it when famous people act like their fame somehow ‘happened’ to them. Re: the photoshopped thighs: I stand by my comment, nobody’s upper legs are that thin.
I completely disagree. It took decades for her to get where she is now and nothing about her makes it appear as if she assumed this would be her path.
Also…some of my friends had really full lips when they were young, and that can kind of look goofy on a younger face. When they got older, those full lips were balanced better by the shape of their faces and they became stunning. Remember, not every gorgeous woman went through her tween and teen years looking amazing. Sometimes people grow into it.
Good for Kerry. So proud of this girl!
She is so gorgeous. People Magazine, this is who should have been on the cover of your ‘Most Beautiful’ issue.
+1
+2
So true!
Wish her to keep on being lucky.
I liked her in Django
I LOVE KERRI!!!
Exquisite.
Love her. Natural beauty. True talent. She deserves this!
I was just discussing this with my friend: who wuddathunkit, that of everyone in Save The Last Dance, KW would have the biggest career? Anyway, good on her. I am a total Scandal addict and she is so gorgeous and adventurous on the red carpets, so Team KW all the way!
Also we share an alma mater, so GO COLONIALS!
She was absolutely breathtaking in Django. I think she sounds grateful for her success, and that is VERY becoming 🙂
She is actually quite modest IRL.I’ve been lucky to meet her at a friend’s personal event. She’s low key, intelligent and I’m stoked her star is do bright now. She too went to Spence, & unlike another alumni who can’t keep her mouth shut about it, Kerry is extremely accomplished and loyal to her inside crew. I wish her the best!
I love her so it’s great to hear that she’s a great person IRL.
She’s soooooooooo beautiful. i just want to stare at her all day.
I don’t hate on her for being beautiful, smart and successful, but there is something about her I find irritating. She seems like one of those types who always puts a positive spin on things and refuses to acknowledge that everything isn’t perfect.
When she was on the View a few years ago, she brought cupcakes for everyone. One of the ladies –Joy maybe– made a comment about the skinny girl trying to get everyone else fat, or something to that effect. I think she has a bit of Goop in her.
How nasty of her to bring everyone cupcakes. I hate it when people do this.
what i can see as being annoying to some is the fact that Kerry is very well spoken & intelligent. she’s not some model-turned-actress. her family are highly invested in academia and raised her in that.
i find that lots of people don’t like women who look like Kerry who are smart, have articulate views and are good-looking to boot.
Kerry is waaaay smarter than myself, but i don’t find her as being a know-it-all and shoving her education in people’s faces. i truly believe she is keeping it real. 😉
Her academic background was very apparent in Save The Last Dance. She was playing a poor black girl from Chicago south side with bad grammar, but she articulated her words far too well to be convincing as that character.
When I eventually read her bio and saw her parents profession as well as her accomplishments, her portrayal of that character made sense.
She’s gorgeous and look great in everything but the styling isn’t good here.
She is a class act and a real beauty
I’m waiting for her and Fassy to get together
I agree with you. They would form beautiful couple.
I’m waiting for her and Tony to get together.
I see A fellow gladiator, lol. It would be a perfect pairing if he weren’t married.
Doesn’t it make a lot of sense that most actors were the dorky theater kids growing up? I mean, they’re actors. If you dig acting, you probably did theater as a kid. I imagine that Neil Degrasse Tyson was a nerdy science kid and that Hillary Clinton was a nerdy model UN type.
I didn’t ever realize that she got a nose job until I remembered she was the sister in ‘Save the Last Dance”!!
My neighbor and Ms. Kerry look almost identical; needless to say, beautiful!! Beautiful skin, features, everything.
I’ve only seen her in Scandal and I just CAN’T with her “acting”. It’s just too much. She needs to tone it down, the overreacting gets distracting.
May, I love Scandal. But like you, she irritates me with her overacting. It’s borderline painful to watch her do these over emotional “acting”. She needs to stop putting too much emotions into it and just flow.
My gurl Kerry Miz-oh-so-Verry is now a:
Spike Lee/Tyler Perry/Tarantino/Shonda Rimes girl .
sky is the limit for homegirl and with all the A-list Hollywood teams she’s a part of…she will work for EVER!
kudos to her! 😉